Beatification - Russian River Brewing Company

porkinator

California

4.55/5  rDev +0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

A - Pours a citrus yellow with a penny thick white head.

S - Lightly hopped, lots of funk and citrus smell.

T - Lots of malt flavor. Tastes the same across my entire tongue. Lots of citrus and funk. Why must you leave my mouth flavor?

M - Amazing. Perfect combination of carbonation and still yet creamy.

O - Wonderful beer. I'm thankful that I was able to get a couple of bottles!

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2011 03:45:17 | More by porkinator

Benway

California

2.95/5  rDev -34.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Huge fan of Russian River and tasted many of the 'ation' series years ago at Toronado. At that point it seemed that many of the barrel aged (chardonnay, pinot, etc) beers were clearly going to find a foothold. Thankfully for us, they have and are getting better and better.

My local shop has carried as many bottled 'ations' as he can get his hands on and I was happy to spend $12 for an 002 batch of Beatification. In the case of this one, it felt extremely sour for sour's sake. Each sip reminded me of biting in to a Zot in elementary school. So rough and so compelling at the same time, like staring at a car accident.

I'm happy to have had this experience and will enjoy watching others try it. I will probably wait for the next 'ation' though.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2008 02:38:57 | More by Benway

metalgdog

New York

4.5/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Batch 5:

Pours a light golden hue with a slight haze. An immediate effervescent fireworks starts occurring in the glass with the tiny bubbles radiating to the quarter inch frothy head.

Smell is a funkadelic sour and citrus mix. Just a beautiful aroma that reeks of complexity.

So after the first sip you realize the hype is legit. A wonderful marriage of a lemon and sour funk that is smooth but complex just like the aroma. An optimal amount of pucker that is balanced with an almost chardonnay quality that dances in your mouth.

Overall this a phenomenal wild. I would describe the experience as an erection for the taste buds.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2012 00:53:37 | More by metalgdog

CADMixes

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev -12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Batch 5.

Beautiful clear golden pour with minimal carbonation. Metallic nose, huge lemon juice quality on the palate. This is straight-up citrus, not vinegar. Finishes clean with a big-time mineral quality.

Interesting beer, not complex but an impressive showcase of the flavors it does have. I imagine it being served ice cold accompanying some delicious fresh seafood. Out of that context maybe it's more of a curiosity.

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2012 23:05:42 | More by CADMixes

Lakemonster

5/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

My friend in San Francisco broke one of these out as my introduction to sours. I was blown away. This is a sour that is truly sour without any overtones of fruitiness. It finishes leaving you wanting more and more and more. Impossible to drink quickly because after the first sip you know you have come across something special. This is my current favorite beer, if you have a chance to taste any of the Russian River sours try this one first, it will blow your mind.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2013 21:46:50 | More by Lakemonster

exanimo

New York

4.55/5  rDev +0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Ah, beatification, supreme happiness..

On warm humid summer days in New York humidity seeps in through the cracks of the farm's silo and mixes with fermenting corn, grains, and grass. It releases a poisonous odor that can only really be traced to farms, the smell of silage. I hold this smell very dear to my heart so you can only imagine how I felt when I eagerly awaited opening my bottle of beatification.

I bought bottles of beatification during a visit to the brewery in Santa Rosa. I first tried it fresh 2 years ago when I first bought it and was rather disappointed. It was my first sour beer and was immediately turned off. No malt or hop flavors to speak of and outrageously sour. Was it a beer?

After several months a strange craving came to me and I needed a sour brew in a bad way. I don't know how, but the very taste I had once hated had grown on me while denied of it. I tried to get the same degree of sour in other sour beers but to no avail.

After popping the cork of this bottle I had been aging, I was overwhelmed again with the warm smell of silage, there is just no other description for it, wonderful. Pressed for glasses I poured the beer into a wine glass. The hazy yellow beer seemed to glisten in the sun under its quickly dissipating one finger bright white head. I also found that in the house it took a more orange/gold color, beautiful even if it was devoid of retention.

The beer goes down very smooth with slightly low carbonation and a sour taste. It has a tart, dry champagne like finish.

How does one describe the taste of sour? I think this is one reason I have grown to love sour beers. The taste is created by incredibly special and often very old yeast (some strains have been reused for hundreds of years) that can not be quantified, but only experienced. This beer is especially unique because it lacks yeast and is fermented spontaneously. Whatever random bacteria and yeast managed to latch onto the sugars managed to do a bang up job. It's organized chaos in the highest sense.

You can try loads of different sour beers, but each one is unique in its own way without an accurate description of the taste or how the sour flavor isn't exactly the same. Sure you can pick up on earthy, citrus, and very subtle wood notes, but nothing can prepare you for the unique sour flavors that your mouth will water to inside this beer.

The only thing I can say about this beer is you have to try it. You'll either love it, or hate it. But I think it is beatifying indeed.

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2010 23:05:07 | More by exanimo

ggoss3

California

4.35/5  rDev -4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

batch 003 750 ml bottle, bought nov 08, from city beer store, SF, CA...

a) golden rich color, with just a hint of a head when first poured into a duvel glass, even and consistent

s) alot of the brett pungent-ness on the nose. hints of citrus, wood.

t) a flavor explosion, the spontaneous fermentation allows for a different flavor in every sip. definite nuance of barrel, as well as orange, and lemon... obviously the puckered brett flavor, with very little sweetness

m) like i said before, it explodes in your palate... the finish leaves you with the sweaty sweet flavor in your mouth

d) the finish is very smooth, so despite being heavy on the brett sourness, you are ready for more immediately

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2008 07:08:28 | More by ggoss3

tyler_mn

4.53/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Eric... what else can I possibly say but thanks! I am ever grateful for this, one of my most sought after beers. Thanks.

375ml. Batch 001. Gentile first pour yields a glowing and absolutely radiant clear, bright, copper/gold liquid with virtually no head and just the smallest appearance of carbonation. Aroma yields loads of tart acicity. Moldy tropical fruit. Wet dog. Foot and BO. Aged cheesy stank. Very light barnyard impression. Musty, acidic basement? The citrus component and funk of the brett and wood really play off each other wonderfully. Doughy, champagne-like yeasty malt quality. Wet rocks and gravel. Shit, I could smell this all day. Acidic, tart and rather minerally on the palate. Tart pineapple, plenty of wood tannin. Acidic, horsey, funky and damn near gueuze-like. As with the nose, the citrus, barrel and yeast aspects all melt together rather seamlessly. The malt component really reminds me of a doughy and bready Champagne, a la Bollinger. Plenty of spritzy carbonation all leading to a fantastically dry, funky, earthy, acidic and rocky finish.

With the yeast added the nose becomes a lot more musty and dank, losing a lot of the citrus component and adding a wholly wonderful layer of cheesy, animal, barnyard funk. Cheesier and moldier on the palate as well. The wood seems to come out more as well. Acidity is toned down on the finish, but the flavor and tangy yeast linger on the tongue for quite a while. Most excellent, but I prefer the bright tang and acidity of the top half of the bottle. Regardless, this a true world class example of the sour ale style and ranks up there with the best of them. Thanks again Eric!

Batch 2: 375ml Bottle. Initial review of the top half of the bottle before the yeast pours.
Holy shit! What a insanely funky and over the top nose! Tart, juicy citrus, white pepper, wood, brett, horse blanket, cow poop, farm. Absolutely wonderful in its complexity. Pours a clear gold. Nearly still. Nearly perfect. Shimmering in all its awesomeness. Flavor is tart and acidic beyond belief. Pineapple, brett, sour, funky. Awesome!

After the yeast. More musty notes emerge. More basement and less farm. Pungent and potent as all hell. White pepper notes emerge. Grapefruit skin. White grape skin and tannin. Assloads of tannic wood. Still acidic but a tad more lush and creamy. Dusty and gravely. Out-freaking-standing! Thanks Mark!

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2012 23:06:08 | More by tyler_mn